CNN 'Fake News' Fallout: Does Undercover Video Mean More Heads Could Roll?
06-27-2017
CBN News Caitlin Burke
President Donald Trump is using the resignations of three seasoned CNN journalists to back his claims that the network is not credible.
The employees quit over a retracted news story about a supposed investigation into a pre-inaugural meeting between a Trump associate and the head of a Russian investment fund. CNN removed the story, which was based on one anonymous source, and any related links last week, saying it did not meet editorial standards.
Early Monday morning, the veteran reporters and editors--Thomas Frank, Lex Haris and Eric Lichtblau--submitted their resignations.
Trump lashed out on Twitter, asking his followers what other fake news stories CNN was producing.
Meanwhile, more resignations could be coming from CNN. Overnight, 'Project Veritas' released undercover video of CNN producer John Bonifield admitting that the president is right to say the network is on a "witchhunt." (Warning: the video containes offensive language)
"I haven't seen any good enough evidence to show that the president committed a crime," he said. "I just feel like they don't really have it but they want to keep digging. And so I think the president is probably right to say, like, 'Look, you are witch hunting me. You have no smoking gun. You have no real proof.'"
Bonifield goes on to say the Russia narrative is "good for business" and that for CNN the driving factor is ratings.
"It's a business. People are like the media has an ethical phssssss… All the nice cutesy little ethics that used to get talked about in journalism school, you're just like, 'That's adorable. That's adorable. This is a business,'" he said.
According to Bonifield, the orders are coming straight from the top.
Citing CNN CEO Jeff Zucker, he said: "Just to give you some context, President Trump pulled out of the climate accords and for a day and a half we covered the climate accords. And the CEO of CNN (Jeff Zucker) said in our internal meeting, he said, 'Good job everybody covering the climate accords, but we're done with that. Let's get back to Russia.'"
James O'Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, says this only the beginning of undercover investigations into the media.
"To report not on facts, but instead on narratives that yield high ratings, is exactly the definition of fake news," said O'Keefe. "We said we are going after the media, and there is a lot more to come."
